瞄 (miáo) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

瞄

miáo[miao2]Tone 2

to take aim

HSK 7

Guru Deep Dive

English · to take aim

Cached lesson

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Topology:Left-right

Strokes:13

Writing Balance Rule: The left radical (目) takes up about one-third of the width, leaving the right component (苗) ample space to stretch its grass crown and field base cleanly without crowding.

1. Meaning

to take aim

to glance atto fix one's eyes on

VerbNeutral#vision#actions#focus

Sample Usage

他瞄准了靶心。
tā miáo zhǔn le bǎ xīn.
He took aim at the bullseye.
她在镜子前瞄了一眼自己的发型。
tā zài jìng zi qián miáo le yī yǎn zì jǐ de fà xíng.
She glanced at her hairstyle in front of the mirror.

2. Sound

/[mjaʊ̯³⁵]/Tone: 35

瞄

miáomiao2

´(35)

=miáo

Build the syllable

Step-by-step blending

miao

Tone mark placement: Tone mark sits on "a" per main-vowel priority (a > e > o; in -iu/-ui the mark takes the second vowel).

Initial Consonant

Type: Bilabial Nasal

Sounds like: m sound as in 'mom'

Unaspirated

Airflow Tactile Test: Nasal resonance through nostrils.

Tongue & Mouth Position: Lips pressed together gently, air passes through the nose.

Final Rhyme

iao

Vowel Group: -a vowel group

Sounds like: rhymes with 'meow'

Mouth Shape Guide: Pronounce as standalone vowel 'yow'.

Common Learner Trap: Keep vowel quality steady across all 4 tone contours.

Tone

T2 (35)

3 → 5 (35)

2nd Tone (Mid-Rising)

Tone Pitch & Cadence: Tone 2 rises like asking 'What?' in English (e.g., 'Huh?').

👂

Listening trap: Confusing the rising Tone 2 (miáo) with the falling-rising Tone 3 (miǎo), or missing the glide in the final.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: Tone 2 starts in the middle and shoots upward like a rising question mark. Accompany with a hand moving upwards from chest level to eye level.

3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 13 strokes

4. Components

Radical 目 · Eye Radical (eye, vision)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 目 (Indicates that the action involves the eyes, looking, or aiming.)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 苗 (original sound: miáo)

Combining the Eye radical (目) on the left with the Sprouts/Field component (苗) on the right creates the image of using your eyes to carefully scan and lock onto a target like a tender sprout.

目 Eye / looking
苗 Sprouts / phonetic clue miáo

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

10· Phonetic Root: 苗 (miáo)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: A later compound character formed by combining the eye classifier (目) with the phonetic sound and imagery of growing plants (苗), representing the act of focusing one's vision.

Semantic Evolution: Originally referring to sighting or peering, it broadened to include aiming firearms, cameras, or casually glancing at objects.

The right side '苗' originally depicted young rice plants sprouting in a field.

6. Sinosphere

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

You use your EYES (目) to look out across the green SPROUTS (苗) in the field, taking careful AIM at a bird.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

苗

miáosprout, seedling, or Miao ethnic groupPhonetic Core (声旁)

猫

māocat+ 犭 (dog)

描

miáoto trace, depict, copy+ 扌 (hand)

喵

miāo(onom.) meow; cat's mewing+ 口 (mouth)

Explore this family →

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

描(miáo)

描 has the hand radical (扌) for tracing/drawing with hands; 瞄 has the eye radical (目) for aiming/looking with eyes.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

猎人举起枪，[___]准了远处的鹿。

Clue: miáo

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing 瞄 (with 目, looking/aiming) with 描 (with 扌, tracing/drawing).

Memory Prompts

Recognition: When you see 瞄 with the eye radical (目) and the sound miáo, what does it mean?

Production: How do you write the character meaning 'to take aim', and what is its Pinyin?

瞄miáoto take aim

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